


Team building

by meddowstaylor



Series: Gettin' Smile [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, I just tagged it as brian/roger as is part of a series that does involve romance, Illnesses, Sickfic, but this could easily be a standalone piece, it's a cold, it's not really romantic could be read as platonic or pre relationship, so much friendship fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23148052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meddowstaylor/pseuds/meddowstaylor
Summary: Roger is a part of Smile, that much he is sure of- but sometimes he does wonder if, in terms of friendship, they are such a solid trio. When he gets sick, some of his doubts are put at ease.
Relationships: Brian May & Roger Taylor, Brian May & Tim Staffell & Roger Taylor, Brian May/Roger Taylor
Series: Gettin' Smile [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585921
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43
Collections: Smile Weekend





	Team building

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm so excited about Smile week because those three guys own my heart and that is a fact. And what a great opportunity to keep expanding the 'Gettin' Smile' series! 
> 
> This can be read as a standalone piece, probably even before Gettin Smile and God Only Knows. And it's pure friendship, a start of the bond they'll build. Hopefully you'll like it!
> 
> Prompt is "Illness"

“It will go away on its own”

“Sure it will”

“It usually does”

“I thought you said this didn’t happen much”

Roger sneezes and sniffles. Not the best help for his compelling argument.

“No, not that often lately”, he lies. 

“Well, if you would bundle up more when you are headed for uni…” Brian starts. 

“I have to get rid of the layers of clothes before I put my scrubs at the lab. And it’s freezing there, that’s probably it.”

“Yes, don’t give me that. A leather jacket and a ratty cardigan are no fit for January, and the walk to uni is a long one, especially if you take the southern route which I know you do because it gives you more time to smoke.” Brian tidies up around the living room, where there are paper tissues scattered around and left behind tea mugs. He is moving so fast it's making Roger dizzier just focusing on him. "Speaking of which, I don’t think the habit does any favors to your cold, either” he carries on.

“Jesus, I thought I had left my mother at Cornwall. You’re the spitting image of her” Brian grins as he sits next to him on the couch. “No, don’t look so satisfied, it’s not a compliment!”

“I’ve talked to her, I only aspire to be as persuasive as she can be over the phone”

“yeah, ‘persuasive’”, Roger snickers.

“Don’t talk about your mother like that”, Brian says as he checks his clock.

Roger smiles against his better judgment. For some reason, the thought of Brian meeting his mom amuses him, and it’s an unusual feeling as he is often very adamant of not mixing his London life with his Cornwall one. There’s so much he has tried to put behind him, and yet with a single nagging act, Brian manages to bring back a lot of what he misses about growing up there.

“tsst, tsst. 38.8. I’ll call Tim, we can’t perform like this”, he says taking a look at the thermometer he is holding.

“My voice sounds amazing”, Roger tries to argue but his hoarseness shines through.

“You sound like you inhaled an ashtray”

“Come on”, he smiles brightly, delighted in seeing Brian squirming all of the sudden. Even when his head feels awful and he is shuddering despite the three blankets wrapped around him he enjoys seeing Brian so flustered.

“Come on, you like how I sound. Admit it”

“You moved from the ‘only dogs can hear you’ register, that is true”

Roger furrows his brows and gasps, trying to come off as offended. His cough betrays him and he sneezes once again.

“Well, *I* can’t perform”, he concedes. “Doesn’t mean Tim and you have to lose the gig”

“That’s not how we do things around here, Rog.” Brian gets up to grab the teapot and pours more hot liquid into Roger’s cup. “We’re a team, haven’t you heard?”

Roger feels a warm feeling on his neck, and he wants to pass it off as collateral from the fever. He had heard it before, it was true, but it was usually an affectionate phrase Brian and Tim threw back and forth between them, a habit Roger was sure they carried from years of knowing each other. Sometimes he found himself feeling like a third wheel, an intrusive into their well-balanced friendship.

He feels he should thank Brian - for saying so, for dealing with him all afternoon, for making him four different kinds of tea until they found one he felt he could taste on his dull taste buds - but he is not sure how to go around it. More often than not he finds himself like this, so unlike him, unable to string together something coherent to reply when Brian or Tim surprise him with unexpected affection.

“You look like shit,” Tim says as he opens the door.

Roger grimaces, tries to go for a piercing stare but reckons he resembles more a stray dog caught in a storm. 

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been telling him”, Brian says. 

“Hey!”, Roger protests. 

“The flimsy jacket probably didn’t help” Tim continues

“-Or the chain-smoking”, Brian supplies

“I’ve seen him go out with his hair wet two mornings in a row only this week.” Tim grabs the tea Brian offers him

“Oi! I’m here, you know?” Roger raises his voice, but the action makes his throat feel like it’s on fire.

“Take this”, Brian puts two tablets in his hand and Tim gets him a glass of water.

“So, soup for the bedridden lad and Japanese for us, Bri?”

“I’m not bedrid- wait. Aren’t you going down to Tommy’s?”

“What for?” Tim asks as he digs through their phone book for the restaurant’s number.

“The show we’ve been practicing for weeks?” Roger asks.

“You sound like you deep throated a sandpaper obelisk. What are you talking about?”

Roger looks at Brian, who dodges his gaze. “I mean you two can go”

Tim flops down on the couch and stretches over to grab the phone that’s next to Roger. He begins dialing and when he sees Roger’s mouth open once again to protest he cuts him off. “Rest, get better, we’ll do it some other time.” Roger reluctantly swallows the two pills, a hard enough task with how swollen his throat is. 

“We’re a team,” Tim says casually.

Roger looks up and now he does find Brian’s hazel eyes smiling warmly at him.

“Yeah. We’re a team” Roger repeats, and closes his eyes as he falls asleep listening to the sound of Tim’s voice ordering on the phone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. If you want to, let me know what you think here in the comments or over at tumblr / meddows-taylor


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